The Golden Age of Athens

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The Golden Age of Athens
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The Golden Age - Pericles the leader of Athens
in peace and war - Athens grew rich
from -Trade -Silver mined by
slaves -Tributes paid to Athens by other
polises in return for protection - High
point of achievements in arts, philosophy,
literature - People gathered to
Athens because Pericles was a good leader
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• Gods and Goddesses
• Zeus was the king of gods and humanity
• The gods lived on Mt. Olympus
• Gods were immortal which means they could live
  forever
• Each city-state honored one of the gods
• Temples were built all over Greece in honor of
  gods
• Greek gods had human characteristics
• Olympic games and theater were festivals to honor
  gods
• Greeks also honored heroes
• Food and sacrifices were left in temples to honor
  gods
• Olympics honored Zeus
• People worshipped outside as a sign of respect

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• Oracles
• Greek priests and priestesses served as oracles
• They were believed to speak for the gods.
• Oracles were also sacred sites where it was
  believed the gods and goddesses spoke.
• Government leaders and common people went to
  oracles for advice.
• The most famous oracle was at Delphi
• Advice often came in the form of a riddle or a
  dream.
• Advice often connected to actual events, and was
  good.

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• Search for Knowledge
• Philosophers believed that people could use the
  power of the mind and reason to understand
  natural events.
• Most Greeks believed gods were responsible for
  natural events
• Some philosophers had correct scientific ideas.
• Socrates believed in the thinking process.
• Socrates was accused of dishonoring gods and
  sentenced to death.

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Search for Knowledge (continued)

• Plato (student of Socrates) founded a school in
  Athens and wrote about Socrates.
• Aristotle believed REASON should guide pursuit of
  knowledge.
• Thales, one of the first philosophers, believed
  everything was made of water

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• Visual Arts and the Parthenon
• Acropolis means high city
• The Propylaea was a huge gate that was the
  entrance to the acropolis
• Pericles wanted beautiful buildings, temples and
  architecture dedicated to the gods

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• Parthenon
• The Parthenon was a temple built by Pericles to
  honor the goddess Athena
• Pericles built the Parthenon
• Athena statue was 39 feet tall
• Sculptures were lifelike.
• Parthenon is on Acropolis

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• Visual Arts
• Greeks wrote first plays
• Beautiful architecture and sculptures
• Red and black pottery
• Metalworkers worked gold
• Arts were important to the Greeks

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• Performing Arts
• Ancient Greek Theater
• Men and women treated differently women could
  not participate and could only sit in the back of
  the theater.
• First Greek plays were tragedies, or stories
  about suffering
• In tragedies, the main character was imperfect
  and faced with a difficult choice often died.
• Comedies made fun of well known citizens and
  customs

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Theater continued

• Audiences hissed, shouted and clapped.
• Visual effects were used, such as mirrors and
  thunderbolts
• A chorus chanted, sang and danced
• Actors wore huge masks
• Plays showed lessons
• Plays were performed in open air theaters.

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